Raising redworms

[Nathan]

Hello everyone,

I'm kinda new here so I thought I would introduce myself really quick along with a question. My name is Nathan and i'm 18 years young. I love fishing for anything but panfish are at the top of my list, whether it be pumpkin seed or bluegill it is all fun. I'm more so a fly fisherman but am more than willing to put down the fly rod if it's windy and toss a worm into the drink. I live on the west coast and the panfish don't get very big here so you probably won't be seeing any mosters from me. My biggest is around 8" bluegill.

 

Now the question, I have started an endevor of raising worms afew years ago. I started with nightcrawlers and was hoping to move on to super worms, red worms, and meal worms, along with wax worms and some others but never really made it past meal worms. I started a nightcrawler club but during the summer I was fishing more than I was tending to them and slowly my nightcrawlers died off. I was gone a lot since my parents are split and it's hard being in two places at the same time. Anyhow, I then bought super worms and tried them, to find out they are just as challenging to raise. They're easy to maintain but hard to get to multiply. Then meal worms were next, these were much easier. I started with 50, managed to get 30 beetles to breed then ended up with a couple hundred. Now the cycle is restarting and I am on my third generation. I just recently tried redworms, and after getting some, I made a foolish mistake of leaving them in the sun, killing them all. :'( Well tonight I got new ones, and I bought some Frabill Fat and sassy worm bedding. I added a dash of water and put them in there. Now I am just waiting to see how this works out. My question though is if anyone can tell me the best way to keep them alive, or if anyone here raises their own worms and has some tips or tricks that would also be greatly appreciated. Does anyone here raise worms?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

-Nathan.

[Jacob Hill]

You could put even more but vegetable or fruit scraps are a better idea for right now as a kind of "sustainable food." The pinch of cornmeal will be good for a few worms but most will never get any. The scraps ensure that all of them that want to are going to eat. 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Worms don't eat what you put in...they eat the bacteria and micro organisms that result from its decomposition.
So feed sparingly.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Worms need .oxygen.
My bin is full of 1/8 inch holes.
Id get then out of the plastic bag and get some holes in your container.
There are 2000 species of earth worm... fish bait worms are usually a type of manure
Or leaf worm.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Get on google and search for bin worm and plastic.
All you need to know will show up.

[dick tabbert]

Fruits are also good for you worms to eat but stay away from citrus.

[Nathan]

Mr. Tabbert, I was wondering if city water or tap water would kill my worms, I recently read something about tap water having chemicals that will kill them, I don't really have any other water sources though and I have already used tap water on them. I recently have been collecting nightcrawlers every night too and using water to rinse them down with and soak their bedding, did I mess up or do you think they will be O.K?

[dick tabbert]

Nation if you have city water there is a chance you might kill you worms. If that's all you have let it set out in the sun for 24 hours then it should be OK. The sun kills the chlorine and that the main additive of city water.

[Nathan]

Thanks, sun is kinda rare where I live until the summer anyway so I think I will have to get some clean water.

[Nathan]

Thanks guys. I put a few pinches of coffee grounds in there. They seem to be healthy even though they're still trying to escape. I woke up today to almost all of them out of the box or in the process of getting out. The last time I checked them nobody was trying to get out though. Thanks for all this great info though.

[Nathan]

I found my very first red wiggler worm, a very big one in the wild today after searching my backyard. Was cool to see one from the earth instead of walmart. :) It's been pouring rain for like 3 days so there have been lots of worms out, been too busy to hunt for them until this evening though.

[Nathan]

Thanks! So far they dont seem to be dead or dying but I think II will get the dechlorinater some time.

[Vince Fusco]

I have never used Frabill's bedding for my wigglers but most times when you add water to bedding it will heat up, and your worms will leave. I mix my bedding and let it set a couple of days before adding my worms. My bedding consists of 2 parts sphagnum peat moss to one part composted cow manure.